Article Details
The future of digital scales and balances |
| Date Added: May 27, 2008 03:40:05 PM |
| Author: James |
| Category: Business, Economy & Industry: Industries |
| As with any other attempt at prediction, determining the future of digital scales and balances is a risky proposition. What seems like the next big thing could turn out to be a flash in the pan, and the real future sneaks in when you weren’t expecting it. But let’s try anyway, shall we? First of all, let’s take a gander at the two most prominent methods technology of balance calibration: the strain gage load cell and magnetic force restoration. Strain gage load cells are used in a great many balances today. A load cell is a force transducer which converts weight into an electrical signal. The strain gage is a strip of treated metal that flexes almost imperceptibly as the weight upon it changes. The signal is then amplified and processed. Strain gage cells work wonderfully for their given purposes. Magnetic force restoration came along as an alternative to the strain gage cell. A magnetic force holds the fulcrum in place. When an object is placed on the pan, the level of displacement is detected. The amount of current needed to hold up the pan is used to determine the weight of the object. These are the two most popular methods of physical weighing. And, for the foreseeable future, this is not really going to change. So far, no new method has come along that appears destined to replace either approach. It is to be hoped that eventually a new method of weighing will come along – perhaps something involving conventional wave or pulsed lasers, or a nanotechnological approach – but until then, strain gages and MFR balances are not going anywhere. It seems, for now, that most of the innovation involving analytical balances and laboratory scales will come from Moore’s Law. Or, in other words, that software is the key to creating more efficient and useful weighing equipment. The frontier seems to be finding ways to integrate precision balances into the environment that they will be used in. Future balances should be able provide the end user with greater data storage capacity, greater ability to be networked into existing systems and a wider array of modes and applications. Whether as a stand-alone unit or part of an existing network, the balance of the future will be have a greater ability to be configured to the end user’s needs and specifications. Jimmy Maloy is the Sales Director for Fulcrum, Inc. |
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